Holly Robinson Peete “had the unique experience of” working with Donald Trump on “Celebrity Apprentice” 10 years ago, when she says he allegedly referred to her as the “N-word” to producers.
On a recent guest appearance on “The Karen Hunter Show,” Peete was asked to recall her period on the show, and how she viewed Trump, the show’s host and an executive producer.
“He was kind of lovely to me, but then shortly after the finale a rumor started coming around that he had tossed out an N-word and was referring to me,” she said.
“Then when the producer told me when it happened during the finale I remember the moment — I wasn’t in earshot but I could see them deciding between me and Brett [Michaels] … and they’re really animated, and that was when I heard that he said ‘they want the N-word to win’ because I guess the network wanted me to win,” Peete continued.
While the actress was not able to hear the alleged incident, the validity of its existence is corroborated by Noel Casler, a comedian who worked on “Celebrity Apprentice” for six seasons. On an episode of “Stuttering John Podcast,” he was asked directly about the occurrence, which he verified, clarifying that the actual quote was, “They want me to choose the N—.” Casler explained that despite Peete performing solidly in the competition and succeeding at all the challenges, Trump was staunchly against her win.
Casler denied that there was any evidence of Trump making the statement on tape, though he couldn’t dismiss the possibility there was audio of him saying the offensive word at some other moment during the taping of the show.
“Those mics were on all the time. I was around for the finales when there’s a lot of pressure around and I heard and saw what I saw,” Casler said. “Imagine what he was doing when they’re just taping on a Tuesday morning and they leave the mic on him all day?”
Peete is fairly nonplussed in the face of such knowledge, and noted that losing the show didn’t matter, as her priority at the time was to make money for her charity. However, she said she wasn’t surprised.
“How could anybody believe that he wouldn’t say something like that?” Peete asked. “I firmly believe he probably uses that language all the time.”
She said that when news of the incident started resurfacing, “I didn’t even really address it too much because I felt like what difference is it gonna make? People have accepted the things that he said that are so vile about so many other people, what difference is it gonna make if he said that about me?”
Peete revealed that a couple of her friends who supported Trump questioned her about it, and even asked her if it was true.
“I just felt like, wow, like this this is where we are,” she said. ”You’re my friend, I’m telling you that I know he probably said this about me, but you’re trying to qualify it — come up with why you know why he did or didn’t say it. But the bottom line is Karen, you know, it’s just it is.”
She said that the Trump she sees now is way beyond even the “piggish and bullish” celebrity she once knew. “I don’t know who he is now …I think that the combination of power and corruption and all that stuff just really just made him go to that next level.”
